Google names new agency lead for Canada

Google has named a new point person for advertising and media agencies across Canada. With deep roots in the early days of ad tech and digital advertising, Matt Thornton has been promoted to head of agency and partners in Canada.

Google said that along with Thornton’s promotion, it is bringing together “programmatic, creative, media and tech resources” into one organization, overseen by Thornton, and expanding the team to “enhance engagement and collaboration with agencies.”

“We’re doubling down on our support for Canadian agencies, bringing media, data and tech closer together in our agency support model,” said Thornton in a release. “We look forward to providing more value to help our agency partners future-proof their service offering in this increasingly complex and exciting era.”

Thornton has been with Google since 2012, and was most recently managing director of Google Marketing Platform. However, he also spent nearly five years in the 2000s with DoubleClick, which was acquired by Google in 2008, becoming the cornerstone of what is now the largest advertising platform in the world.

After DoubleClick, Thornton spent time with Yahoo and Shaw Media.

He steps into the role previously occupied by Christos Nikitopoulos, who was head of agency for nearly two years before parting ways with Google last fall and becoming general manager, business development for The Trade Desk. Matt Rivard had been filling in on an interim basis since then.

David Brown